Was the 2nd of February 1990 a victory for the gospel?
Today, twenty years ago FW de Klerk
unbanned the ANC in a well-documented speech. I can’t remember
it that well. I was too young and
as a fifteen year old was just interested in one thing, rugby. What I do remember was that I was quite
excited that the sport sanctions could finally be lifted and that “our” rugby
and cricket teams could compete internationally.
I also remember the total fear amongst
white people after the unbanning.
I distinctly remember how white people became prophets of doom. People were saying that de Klerk gave
our country away – that he was a traitor.
Earlier this morning I opened the leading
Afrikaans newspaper’s website and saw a poll question. The question stated,
“Was FW de Klerk right in making his
historic announcement on the 2nd of February 1990?”
The results (which is definitely not a
scientific poll) showed the polarization amongst the readers of the
newspaper. 9400 People took part
in the poll. A whopping 4999 (53%)
voted NO. 3321 (35%) voted YES and
1080 (11%) were unsure.
I voted YES, and not just for rugby reasons. Since my life in High School I have
come to appreciate the heart of God for those who are oppressed, what is called
“God’s preferential option for the poor”.
As a follower of Jesus these statistics point me to the immense challenges
facing Afrikaans churches in helping people to cross boundaries and
immigrate into the New South Africa (I suspect a large proportion of the people
who voted would describe themselves as Christians).
Today, another South African website
published two letters to FW de Klerk; the first from Nelson Mandela and the
second from Desmond Tutu. In
Desmond Tutu’s letter (the second one) he describes the 2nd of
February 1990 as a day that he would call “Ubuntu Day”. He also says that the speech symbolized
“an African dawn for the Afrikaner”.
In South Africa there are different
versions of Afrikaners. To the far
left are those who celebrate Ubuntu and would like to become Africans as
Afrikaners. On the far right are
those who recently voiced that they would like to start a separate Afrikaner state
within South Africa. In between
are different shapes, sizes and hues.
I am interested in how the good news of
Jesus would interact with the 2nd of February 1990. I propose that it was a very positive
step in the direction of a grace-filled gospel movement for our nation.
Now, more than ever the church has a
responsibility to help South Africans become human again. Thank you FW de Klerk
for taking a bold step and freeing us all from, what Desmond Tutu described as,
“a cruel and inhumane system”. Now it is our turn to be bold as followers of Jesus!
About the Author
Tom loves life and enjoys exploring as much of it as he can. He is sharing life with Lollie, Tayla and Liam as well as friends and family. He is passionate about the kingdom and how it takes expression in South Africa.
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Despite the problems of violent crime, corrupt leaders and service delivery, which we face in South Africa, we were given a second chance in February 1990 to realise the true calling of being white Christian South Africans. Mistakenly, we initially thought our calling was to rule "over" fellow South Africans of differing cultures, languages and colour. Instead our true calling was to rule "with" them and together work to solve the plentiful challenges facing South Africa. Had we adopted such an inclusive policy from the very beginning, we would not have lost the trust and respect of the other South Africans.
It now requires an uphill battle full of doubt and uncertainties to regain an entitlement to participate fully in jointly building a new South Africa. However, we have no other choice if indeed we believe that we were placed here with a devine calling. Neels Claassen